I often share interesting productivity-related Hacker News threads in this intro because they often have good answers to questions people ask. In the case of the one I'm sharing here, while there are some interesting answers, the top answer is more of a non-answer, and may be the best one.
The thread in question is where a user asks
How do you optimize your focus? In other words, how do you trigger what people refer to as "flow state".
Is pursuing "flow state" worthwhile?
The top answer reads in part:
"I believe it's fruitless to try to reach that state. Because the harder you try, more difficult it is to reach. I have been in the zone working on a messy desk, with tons of distractions around. And I have failed to be in the zone with all my website-blocking apps and having my phone away.
You get into the zone because you're obsessed with a problem or an idea. It's the key to being in the flow. Too many people try to optimize the environment, when it helps only a little."
There's a lot of truth in that. It reminds me of the advice baseball players often get when they say they want to hit more homeruns.
People who understand hitting in baseball know that if you go up to the plate trying to hit a homerun, you'll likely fail. This is because you end up doing things that are non-conducive to homerun hitting – squeezing the bat too hard, lengthening your swing, slowing down or dragging your bat through the zone, etc. All of that creates resistance.
It's best to just relax and try to make solid contact, without thinking about hitting a homerun. Then the homeruns will come naturally.
The same applies to getting into a flow state. Trying to 'set up' the flow state, you could say, is antithetical to being in a flow state. Maybe you have ways to achieve such a state but I'm guessing for most people it happens when they allow it to happen organically rather than trying to force it.
Now on to this week's hand-picked productivity links!
